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Gabriel Okara
Gabriel Imomotimi Gbaingbain Okara (born April 21, 1921) is a Nigerian poet and novelist. Life Gabriel Imomtimi Gbaingbain Okara, the son of an Ijọ chief,"Gabriel Okara", in Hans M. Zell, Carol Bundy, Virginia Coulon, A New Reader's Guide to African Literature, Heinemann Educational Books, 1983; pp. 445-447. was born in Bomoundi in Bayelsa State, in the Niger delta, in 1921. He was educated at Government College, Umuahia, and later at Yaba Higher College. He studied journalism at Northwestern University in the late 1950s, and before the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War worked as Information Officer for the Eastern Nigerian Government Service. In addition to his poetry and fiction, Okara has also written plays and features for broadcasting. Many of his manuscripts were destroyed during the Nigerian Civil War. Writing His most famous poem is "Piano and Drums". Another popular poem, "You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed", is a frequent feature of anthologies. Okara is very concerned with what happens when the ancient culture of Africa is faced with modern Western culture, as in his poem "Once Upon a Time". He pursues that theme in his novel The Voice (Africana Publishing: ISBN 0-8419-0015-9) Its protagonist Okolo, like countless post-colonial Africans, is hunted by society and haunted by his own ideals. The Encyclopædia Britannica calls his 1964 novel, The Voice, a "remarkable linguistic experiment in which Okara translated directly from the Ijo (Ijaw) language, imposing Ijo syntax onto English in order to give literal expression to African ideas and imagery. The novel creates a symbolic landscape in which the forces of traditional African culture and Western materialism contend. Its tragic hero, Okolo, is both an individual and a universal figure, and the ephemeral “it” that he is searching for could represent any number of transcendent moral values. Okara’s skilled portrayal of the inner tensions of his hero distinguished him from many other Nigerian novelists."Gabriel Okara, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Web, Nov. 16, 2012. Recognition In 1979, he was awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Publications Poetry *''Pergamon Poets 2: Poetry from Africa'' (by Gabriel Okara & Howard Sargent). Oxford, UK: Pergamon, 1968. * The Fisherman's Invocation. London: Heinemann, 1978. *''The Dreamer, His Vision: Poems''. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: University of Port Harcourt Press, 2004. Novel *''The Voice''. London: Andre Deutsch, 1964; New York: Africana, 1970. Juvenile * An Adventure to Juju Island. Yaba, Nigeria: Macmillan, 1981; Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann, 1992. *''Little Snake and Little Frog''. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann, 1992. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Gabriel Okara, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 3, 2015. See also * List of Nigerian poets References *Echeruo, Michael J.C. "Gabriel Okara: a Poet and His Seasons." World Literature Today, 1992: 454-456 * * Mark Willhardt, Who's Who in 20th Century World Poetry, Routledge (2001), ISBN 0-415-16355-2 - p. 237. * Eldred Ibibiem Green, Gabriel Okara: The Man and His Art. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Onyoma Research Publications, 2007. Notes External links ;Poems *"The Call of the River Nun" *Gabriel Okara b. 1921 at the Poetry Foundation ;Audio / video *Gabriel Okara at YouTube ;About *Gabriel Okara in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Gabriel Okara in Contemporary Black Biography *Chinua Achebe Foundation Interviews #36: Gabriel Okara in conversation at Nigeria Village Square, 2006 *"The Poet of the Nun River," interview at African Writing, 2008 Category:1921 births Category:Living people Category:Nigerian poets Category:Nigerian novelists Category:People from Bayelsa State Category:20th-century poets Category:Children's poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:African poets writing in English